The present invention relates to livestock watering devices and in particular to those devices which are equipped with heating devices.
Previous generations of livestock waterers consisted of open tubs in barnyards or pens. There livestock could access the water as needed. Improvements were then made to the cattle waterers which allowed the tubs to be filled automatically. Although the automatic fillers solved a number of problems with the waterers, problems relating to freezing persisted. Specifically, in sub-freezing climates, the water in the waterer is susceptible to freezing. In order to abate this problem, farmers began to use heaters to warm the water to above freezing. Although heaters aided in keeping most of the water in a liquid state, freezing still occurred at the air-water interface. Additionally, the costs of heating the waterers became more expensive. Improvements to better insulate the waterers led to insulation material utilized in the outer shell of the waterer and inventions directed at insulating the upper surface of the water itself. U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,687 discloses a waterer with a circular cover or lid which floats upon the water's surface. The lid could be manipulated by the animal in such a way to allow access to the water beneath. Other patents sized the lid to avoid its freezing to the surrounding opening. U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,022 implemented guide rails anchoring the cover to the waterer while still allowing the animals access to the water below. The guide rails assisted in preventing the animals from being able to physically remove the lids from the waterer.
With conventional lids, movement of the lids by animals seeking to drink creates turbulence and splashing of water from the waterer. This wastes water and also creates a muddy ground surface around the waterer or leads to ice build up on the outside of the waterer. The shape of previous lids made them prone to generating wave action within the waterer. Wave action causes water to be lost which in turn add extra costs in the replacing of the water as well as heating of the replacement water.
One other shortcoming is the placement of the heater within the waterer. Traditionally, the heater is placed in a protected central location away from the basins accessible by the animals so that the animals will not damage the heating element. The heat created by the heating element must travel from the central location of the waterers to the basins and may be sufficiently dissipated before water in the basins is sufficiently warmed to prevent freezing in frigid weather conditions.